This invention relates to accessory devices for being mounted to a firearm, and more particularly to a light beam generator for being mounted to a firearm including a handgun.
Accessory devices including light beam generators, such as flashlights and laser aiming devices, have long been adapted for being secured to firearms as target illuminators and laser sights. As particularly relating to handguns, such accessory devices may utilize a longitudinal rail carried by the frame of the handgun and forwardly of the trigger guard, which rail may be integral with the frame as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,088, or such rail may be provided as a separate structure removably attachable to the handgun as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,237, both patents issued to John W. Matthews and Paul Y. Kim and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Handgun manufacturers have introduced various handgun models having a longitudinal rail along the handgun's frame, below the barrel and forwardly of the trigger guard, such rail being configured with two longitudinal grooves, one along each side of the rail, and further configured with a transverse slot in the bottom surface of the rail. As is well known, such rails are intended for cooperating with accessories such as a light beam generator having a housing configured with a pair of longitudinal tongues complementing the longitudinal grooves for slidably retaining the light beam generator on the rail. A latch on the light beam generator housing co-acts with the transverse slot in the rail for releasably preventing further longitudinal movement of the light beam generator along the rail when the light beam generator is at a predetermined longitudinal position.
The longitudinal rails of handguns of some manufacturers may be of different configuration than the longitudinal rails of handguns of other manufacturers. For example, some handguns include a longitudinal rail commonly known as a Universal rail, while other handguns include a rail commonly known as a Picatinny rail. The slot width of the Universal rail is substantially less than the slot width of the Picatinny rail. Until the present invention, an accessory device securable to one type of rail was not securable to another type of rail.